02| Maverick.

I once was known as the Ruthless King in both the financial world and the criminal world. Well, that’s what the word was on the street a year ago, anyway.

Ruthless King.

Intolerant King.

Just ask my ex-girlfriend who thought it would be fun to fuck my brother, Matthias, in front of a camera that was live-streaming across the net in sixty-seven countries. The memory of their betrayal still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. The one good thing that came out of it was my drive to find Arnica Savage, who still holds my brother's heart captive without even knowing it.

Me being with Arnica will drive my brother wild with jealousy that will eventually ruin his and Tessas' fake relationship.

Arnica will be everyones demise and she has no idea who she truly is or who is behind her mothers death.

It’s been twelve months and eight days since a war erupted between the Quinn and Lorenzo family. The war between our two families was initiated when the Lorenzo family executed my mother and little sister.

Lives were lost during the attacks, fortunes burned, bloodlines wiped clean from the face of the Earth…

But it was the last betrayal that drove me wild when Matthias chose them over me.

The little prick sold me out for pussy. Pussy that was supposed to be mine.

I had planned to ask Tessa for her hand in marriage on New Year's Eve.

‘New Year, New Us.’

But I was so blinded by the love I had for Tessa that I couldn’t see her scheming behind my back with Matthias.

They thought that their betrayal would cripple me, but it only made me stronger with an impenetrable desire to make my enemies suffer more. I won every battle, which led me to win the war.

I financially plucked away at the trust funds, alliances, and empires of my enemies – making them weak. A lot of them lost their lives in the process, and those who were hanging back in the shadows stepped forward and joined me.

Together, we flourished and became insanely wealthy. My empire grew tenfold while the Lorenzos’ empire burned to the ground. The only business they had left was human trafficking, and I plan to rip that from under them when the right time arises.

Timing is everything in this game of war between us.

Patience is power and my Gods… I have the patience of an Angel.

“I don’t belong to YOU, Maverick!”

Derailing my train of thought and reminding me why my earlobe burns like hell by the sound of her soft voice that makes my insides turn to liquid, I raise my eyes until they clash with her light-brown orbs that have my dick twitching mid-air.  

I drop my hand that's wrapped snuggly around the base of her delicate neck. I tower over MY little fire-cat with her claws out, and place my hands on the door above her head, caging her in.

“Kitten, you’ve been MINE the second you stole my attention,” I say in a possessive tone that sounds so foreign to me.

Her eyes hold mine captive as she tries to rub my touch from her neck, challenging me to look away first like she has the power to make me crumble under the intensity of her glare.

Unfortunately for her, they have the opposite effect.

I bet if I were to dip my head and crush my lips against hers, she would melt in my arms enough for me to slide my cock into her slick entrance and fuck her senseless.

“I want to leave, Maverick.” She demands softly with her chest rising and falling with every shallow breath she takes. “And I never want to fucking see you again. It makes me sick to my stomach to think that I willingly let you fuck me.” She whispers, shaking her head in disbelief. “You must have drugged me because there is no way I would…”

Dropping my hand from the door above her head, I reach for her left hand, lifting it to my mouth and I slide her wedding finger between my lips, lathering it with my saliva. Arnicas' brows crease with disapproval, and she attempts to pull her hand away, but her grip is no match for mine.

Straightening my spine, I release her finger with a resounding pop. Taking off her wedding band from my pinky finger, I attempt to slip it onto hers, but she clenches her hand into a fist.

“Don’t you fucking dare put that ring on my finger, Maverick,” she spits out with defiance. “If what you said is true, I want a fucking divorce, now.” Her features hardened along with one-half of my heart due to her rejection.

Licking my lips, “open your fucking hand, Arnica. As I previously stated, there will be no divorce between us. I marked you in every way possible last night, and I intend to do it again, very, very soon.” I snarl murderously, meaning every word I’ve just pronounced.

Her shoulders fall as tears brim her eyes, “please don’t do this, Maverick.” She pleads wholeheartedly, and I ignore her, shaking my head with my nostrils flaring in frustration.

“Open. Your. Hand.” I demand.

After a beat or two, her fingers eventually uncurl themselves from her palm in defeat, and she turns her head away, refusing to watch me slide her wedding band down her slim finger.

“You’re an arse hole…” She whispers in despair.

Yeah, I know that pumpkin. But I didn’t get to where I am by being the nice guy.

Inhaling deeply and then expelling it harshly, I take two steps back and fold my arms across my bare chest as I stare down at her.

“That’s probably the nicest thing that anyone has said to me in a long time, Angel,” I state sarcastically, admiring the lines of frustration surge across her forehead.

On the verge of having a full-blown meltdown, “you fucking Quinns are outrageously despicable. One thinks it’s okay to cheat on me, and the other drugs me then forces me to marry him.” She speaks softly.

I narrow my eyes as I silently stare at her, trying to decipher every facial reaction she makes, so I can read her better. But the more I stare at her, the more infatuated I become with her. Her beauty is quite deceiving because when you first take a glimpse at her, you cannot deny that she is pretty.

But when you stare at her and allow your gaze to linger over her face, that’s when her real beauty is unleashed. I’ve already counted eighteen freckles that are splattered across her cheeks and nose. Three beauty spots down the side of her neck and a small scar above her left eyebrow that has me itching to know how she got it.

“You’re staring and you ARE still butt-naked.”

One side of my mouth kicks up into a sly smirk. “My cock is hard, too. Would you like to help me take care of it? After all, you are my wife.” I ask with amusement, purposely trying to get a reaction out of her.

“Sure, I can run you a cold shower, punch you in the gut or chop the bastard off. Your choice.” She replies with utter disgust that has me approaching her once again.

“Those weren’t the options you offered me last night, Angel.”

“It’s obvious I was delirious from the drugs you slipped me.”

I snort, extending my hand to touch her bottom lip with the pad of my thumb. “I bet if I kissed you, I’d be able to taste myself on your lips.”

Arnica opens her mouth to reply, but the sound of my phone ringing from the room stops her and I brush a frustrated hand over my weary face, taking a step back from her.

“Go,” I state firmly with a gusty sigh. “You can run, kitten, but I’ll find you by sunrise tomorrow and when I do, I’m never letting you out of my sight until you come to terms with the fact that we are married and this,” I wave my hand back and forth between us, “is forever.”

Wasting no time, I regretfully watch her spin around and yank the door wide open. My gaze drops to her ass as she steps through the threshold, turns right and takes off running without a second glance back at me or bothering to pick up her possessions she dropped just moments ago.

And for some odd reason, it rubs me the wrong way to witness that she was so desperate to leave me without a second thought.